Kendall County to offer law enforcement training

By Linda Byrne, Contributing Writer :
December 17, 2013

Local law enforcement officials won't have to travel to receive state-mandated training, Sheriff Al Auxier announced on Dec. 9. Kendall County has been certified by the state to become a training provider.

“On Dec. 5, (Sheriff's Department officials) went to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement to petition to become a contract training provider and I'm proud to announce that we've been approved for that, which will allow us to take our tax dollars further and basically take care of our folks,” Auxier announced at the Dec. 9 meeting of the Kendall County Commissioners Court.

According to Chief Deputy Gary Miller, training is an ongoing requirement.

“The state mandates 20 hours per year, or 40 hours per training cycle, which is two years. All peace officers and detention officers are required to complete the training,” Miller explained.

Miller said providing local training opportunities has been one of the sheriff's high priorities. One of the reasons is that it will allow the department to conduct and report training to the state agency without paying the regional academy for training.

“Shortly after being sworn in as Sheriff in January of this year, Sheriff Auxier met with Boerne Police Chief James Kohler and Fair Oaks Ranch Chief Scott Rubin to discuss plans for joint training with area public safety agencies,” Miller said. The goals would be to increase the quality and amount of training, along with cost savings to each agency.”

According to Miller, the first step in the application process was setting up a local board to oversee the training and provide feedback from the community.

Craig Radtke, human resource director for Boerne Independent School District and businessman Roy Smith were appointed as the citizen representatives. Auxier, Kohler, Rubin and Miller are the law enforcement representatives.

Miller said the Dec. 5 presentation was made by Sgt. Butch Matjeka and Auxier.

“Currently, the majority of training received by area officers is held in San Antonio, requiring officers to drive to the training, pay tuition, and be away from work for a longer period of time. We also have no control over the scheduling of the training, the instructors or the topic matter,” Auxier said.

“Being able to report our training through our Contract Training Provider agreement, we can schedule the training to meet the needs of our local departments, use local officers as instructors and not charge for the instruction when our agencies are attending. We save tax dollars and improve the training each officer receives.”

Miller said Boerne Police have agreed to the use of their classroom, which can hold up to 40 officers, for the training, and Rubin and Kohler have pledged the assistance of their officers to help with the instruction.

“Each department has officers certified to instruct courses covering a wide range of topics, from firearms to use-of-force issues to supervision and leadership,” Kohler said. “We can tailor the training to meet our needs. We were more than happy to cooperate in this effort.”

According to Miller, the training sessions, which begin in January, could occasionally reach a broader audience.

“If we open the training to outside agencies, they can also attend. Some training will be for local officers only, others we will open up,” Miller said.

Rubin said local training will be beneficial for all area agencies.

“Although we may work for different departments, we are one large community,” Rubin said. “We provide backup, we assist on calls and deal with many of the same problems. Increasing our joint training just makes sense. Plus we work similar 12-hour shifts, and we can design the training around those hours, helping with scheduling issues.”